I Suck At Super Tuesday

before i forget, happy mardi gras! if only i had some beads... if only i had some beads...

anyway, i'm not normally into politics. the presidential race this year, however, has become quite exciting with the closeness of the competition between the potential candidates of both parties. as of right now, the projections are as thus:

for democrats:
clinton is the projected winner in oklahoma, arkansas, tennessee, new york, massachusetts, new jersey, and missouri;
obama is the projected winner in georgia, illinois, delaware, alabama, utah, kansas, north dakota, connecticut, idaho, minnesota;

for republicans:
mccain is the projected winner in new jersey, connecticut, illinois, delaware, new york, oklahoma, and arizona;
huckabee is the projected winner in west virginia, arkansas, alabama and georgia;
romney is the projected winner in massachusetts, utah, and north dakota;

it seems like mccain has all but wrapped up the republican nomination. for the democrats, it still appears too close to call. what is also interesting is that (much like al gore in the 2000 presidential election), it's not the popular vote that actually matters, but the votes of the state delegates. so, it's conceivable that the democratic winner of the popular vote can actually lose the delegate vote (and hence lose the nomination).

anyway, this very exciting day got me thinking... because i suck at super tuesday... how does someone not affiliated with either the democratic or republican party vote in the primary?

here is the answer from my friend... wikipedia:

there are actually types of primaries that vary according to each state, which may/may not allow for unaffiliated people to vote:

• Closed. Voters may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party. Independents cannot participate. Note that due to the appropriation of the term "independent" by some political parties, the term "non-partisan" is often used to refer to those who are not affiliated with a political party.

• Semi-closed. As in closed primaries, registered party members can vote only in their own party's primary. Semi-closed systems, however, allow unaffiliated voters to participate as well. Depending on the state, independents either make their choice of party primary privately, inside the voting booth, or publicly, by registering with any party on Election Day.

• Open. A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation. When voters do not pre-register with a party before the primary, it is called a pick-a-party primary because the voter can select which party's primary he or she wishes to vote in on election day. Because of the open nature of this system, a practice known as "raiding" may occur. "Raiding" consists of voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party. Although no cases can be shown where this has happened successfully, the theory is that opposing party members vote for the weakest candidate of the opposite party in order to give their own party the advantage in the general election.

• Semi-open. All voters may vote in any single primary, but must publicly declare which primary they will vote in before entering the voting booth. Typically this declaration is accomplished by requesting a ballot. In many states with semi-open primaries, election officials record each voter's choice of party and provide the parties access to the information.

• Blanket. This system allows voters to vote for one candidate per office, regardless of which party they were a member of.

• Run-off. A primary in which the ballot is not restricted to one party and the top two candidates advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. (A runoff differs from a primary in that a second round is only needed if no candidate gains a majority in the first round.)

There are also mixed systems in use. In the USA, in West Virginia, Republican primaries are open to independents, while Democratic primaries were closed. However, as of April 1, 2007, West Virginia's Democratic Party opened its voting to allow "individuals who are not affiliated with any existing recognized party to participate in the election process"

in case you are curious, massachusetts is a semi-closed primary... so voters must be affiliated with a party in order to vote in that party's election, but may change enrollment at the polls.

for more information about massachusetts primary voting, go here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080113063653AAtXLTW

so, to answer my original question of "how does someone not affiliated with either the democratic or republican party vote in the primary?", the gist of the answer is as follows:

If you are a registered voter and your political party designation is "unaffiliated," then on election day you may choose whichever party ballot you wish to vote on (i.e., Republican or Democrat). For the presidential primary, I believe you must then switch your designation back to "unaffiliated" after you vote, which you can do at the polling place when you check out. I believe if you don't do this then you will now be a member of the party you just voted.

Also, remember there is an "independent" party now, I believe you must be "unaffiliated" to be able to pick your ballot, not "independent."